This invention relates generally to containers for shipping and storing semiconductor integrated circuits and more particularly, it relates to a chip carrier tube of a novel construction adapted for especially packing and shipping a plurality of Flash miniature cards in a side-by-side arrangement.
In view of the trend for higher and higher packing densities for semiconductor memory integrated circuits or chips, there has been developed in recent years in the industry extremely miniaturized rectangularly-shaped packages of the types referred to as miniature cards. Consequently, there has arisen a need for chip carrier tubes or containers for housing and/or shipping a relatively large number of these miniature cards so as to facilitate their storage and transportation from a chip manufacturer's site to a customer's plant for use in a manufacturing process and/or equipment.
Since these miniature cards are susceptible to possible physical damage or even destruction during packaging and subsequent shipment, the chip carrier tubes must also be capable of providing a degree of protection for the sensitive miniature cards to be transported therein with respect to contamination, triboelectric charge caused by contact between the miniature card surface and the tube surface, electrostatic discharge (ESD), variations in temperature, and mechanical vibration or shock.
Currently, the prior art solutions to these problems have involved the use of plastic cases each having a compartment for holding a single or individual miniature card therein. However, the prior art plastic cases suffer from the disadvantage of being a very time-consuming task for loading and packing the individual miniature cards. Further, the use of an individual plastic case for each miniature card increases the material cost as well as the assembly/labor cost. In addition, the plastic cases are not very practical to use with other sequential manufacturing processes and/or equipment, such as a "pick and place" mechanism.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,446 to M. Hosseinmardi et al. issued on Jul. 25, 1995, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention, there is disclosed a BGA carrier for storing and shipping of BGA packages in a side-by-side arrangement, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. The BGA carrier is also adapted for dispensing of the BGA packages in a one-by-one fashion under gravity. The BGA carrier includes a flat elongated tubular body member, a lower end plug member, and an upper end plug member. The tubular body member has a first end and a second end. The tubular body member has a bore of a rectangular cross-section extending therethrough between the first end and the second end. The tubular body member includes a flat top wall portion, a flat bottom wall portion, and a pair of vertically extending side walls all formed integrally together. Opposed overhanging slots are formed in the pair of vertically extending side walls for supporting only two side edges of a plurality of BGA packages so that the top and bottom surfaces thereof are suspended freely between the top and bottom wall portions of the tubular body member.
In co-pending application Ser. No. 08/614,755 filed on Mar. 13,1966, there is illustrated a chip carrier container for storing and shipping of a plurality of PLCC/LCC packages in a side-by-side arrangement which includes a tubular body member, a first end plug member, and a second end plug member. The tubular body member has a first end and a second end. The tubular body member also includes a bore of a substantially rectangular cross-section extending therethrough between the first end and the second end. The tubular body member is formed of an upper wall section, a lower wall section, and a pair of opposed side walls all integrally connected together. The first end plug member is disposed slidably and frictionally into the bore adjacent the first end of the tubular body member. A plurality of PLCC/LCC packages are disposed upside down in the bore of the tubular body member to substantially fill the same. Each of the PLCC/LCC packages is of a substantially rectangular shape and has side edges, end edges, a top surface, and a bottom surface. The side and end edges are provided with terminal leads.
The upper wall section includes a first flat end portion, a second flat end portion, and an offset intermediate portion sandwiched between the first and second end portions. Similarly, the lower wall section has a first flat end portion, a second flat end portion, and an offset intermediate portion sandwiched between the first and second end portions. The first and second end portions on the lower wall section are used to support only small portions of the top surface adjacent to the side edges of the plurality of PLCC/LCC packages so that the top and bottom surfaces thereof are substantially suspended freely between the offset intermediate portions on the upper and lower wall sections of the tubular member. The second end plug member is disposed slidably and frictionally into the bore adjacent the second end of the tubular body member.
Nevertheless, at the present time the inventors are unaware of the use of tubes for packing Flash miniature cards in the industry. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a chip carrier of a tubular construction adapted for especially packing and shipping a plurality of Flash miniature cards in a side-by-side arrangement which requires a lesser amount of time to load and pack. Further, it would be expedient to provide a chip carrier which can be made relatively less expensive and is compatible with other manufacturing processes and/or equipment for sequential assembly operations.